The automotive industry forms a strong part of German identity, with carmakers such as BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen remaining pillars of the economy.<\/p>\n
Peter Mair, a Berlin Christian Democratic Union (CDU) politician, told the Financial Times: \u201cGermany is an auto-nation. It\u2019s how people identify themselves \u2013 not just with their car, but with what it represents: the power of German industry.\u201d<\/p>\n
But Berlin has long been culturally distinct from the rest of the nation.<\/p>\n
Fewer residents inside Berlin\u2019s S-Bahn ring own a car than those in comparable areas of London and Paris, with the younger generation moving sharply towards public transport, a trend accentuated as fuel costs continue to rise with the conflict in Iran and Russia\u2019s ongoing war in Ukraine.<\/p>\n
\u201cInstead of bans, more offers are needed, especially in local public transport,\u201d Mr Wegner, a member of the CDU, said.<\/p>\n
\u2018City of freedom\u2019<\/p>\n
Having campaigned for the expansion of cycle lanes in the past, the mayor is aware that congestion is a problem.<\/p>\n
But a party statement pointed out that \u201cBerlin is the city of freedom\u201d, which includes freedom of choice on how to move around.<\/p>\n
If a referendum is triggered, the law under consideration would still permit inner-city road use for delivery drivers, emergency services and disabled car users.<\/p>\n
Those who rely on cars for work would have to apply for special permits to drive.<\/p>\n
Verkehrsunterscheid argues the ban is the most effective way to improve air quality and safety in Germany\u2019s capital.<\/p>\n
But Mr Wegner fears an outright ban would have a detrimental knock-on effect for Berlin\u2019s economy.<\/p>\n
The capital has struggled to compete with other German cities such as Munich and Frankfurt since Germany\u2019s reunification, and limiting car use could only hamper its growth.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The automotive industry forms a strong part of German identity, with carmakers such as BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2930,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[18,5,3131,442,46],"class_list":{"0":"post-2929","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-berlin","8":"tag-berlin","9":"tag-germany","10":"tag-motoring","11":"tag-standard","12":"tag-world-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2929","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2929"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2929\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2930"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2929"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2929"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2929"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}